Tandem
by Triya
Summary: Asuna, Ashivod, and Nari escape from a detention cell on an Imperial Cruiser. Ashivod decides to take an Imperial Ensign as a hostage in order to make their escape. And what seemed like a great idea at the time turns into a huge mess.
1. Stick it to the Man

_In the year 17 BBY...._

**Tandem:**

**Stick it to the Man**

"Don't worry. This is just a routine cargo check for this sector."

"This is all routine?" Asuna asked the young Imperial officer that kept at smiling at her. He stood at a relaxed attention in front of her. Behind him a couple other officers along with a few storm troopers boarded her lightweight freighter. Ashivod stood next to her in his full armor. Nari was next to him and in her armor as well. They both had their helmets on and appeared to be quietly watching the men boarding their ship. Asuna had a feeling they were having a secret conversation.

"We recently had to heighten security. Nothing to be concerned with though," He said with a wink. Asuna gave him an uncomfortable smile. He was watching them all like a hawk even if it didn't seem like it. She almost felt he knew that Nari and Ashivod were talking to each other. She felt like nudging them and telling them to shut up.

The Officer's com beeped and he looked down at it. He turned to face the ship and acknowledged the trooper walking down the boarding platform. The trooper gave him some sort of hand signal. He nodded and then motioned to some troopers behind him. Ashivod and Nari looked at each other right before the few troopers ran up behind them with their blasters up. Asuna looked over her shoulder and felt her stomach flip.

"Put your hands up and behind your head. Slowly," The Imperial Officer ordered them. He had a pistol out and aimed at them. Asuna did as she was told. Nari and Ashivod begrudgingly did the same.

"What seems to be the problem officer?" Ashivod asked through clenched teeth. The Officer noticed his tone and gave him a condescending look.

"Your cargo. We're holding you in detention center while we investigate it. Don't try anything flashy. You're dealing with top Imperial Officers on this cruiser," He said moving his pistol so it was aimed at Ashivod.

"Ensign Cole, take their astromech and scan its memory banks," he ordered an officer who had been inspecting their vessel. He looked down at D0D0 who's head spun around and over at Asuna. Her heart and face sunk as the droid was led away from them.

"Take them away," the officer ordered the troopers. Asuna was nudged forward with a blaster and walked away with Nari and Ashivod as she watched DohDoh go in the opposite direction.

---

"What did he mean by _suspicious _cargo? We were delivering machine parts," Nari said. Asuna's stomach tightened.

"There was something other than machine parts in the cargo," she admitted. Ashivod and Nari looked over at her.

"I… bought a few toy droids," Asuna said. She sat on the floor of the detention cell and twiddled her thumbs as she looked up at both of them. Nari crossed her arms and looked at Ashivod

"A few toy droids shouldn't get them worked up like this," she said as he looked back at her. Ashivod put his hands on his hips and turned to look at Asuna again.

"Exactly how many toy droids did you get?"

"Fifty."

"That's too small of a shipment but too big to be thought of as nothing, especially if our main cargo is parts and not toys. They probably think we're smuggling information or something in them," Nari deducted.

"Why did you by a bunch of toy droids?" Ashivod asked Asuna. She shrugged but he waited for a better answer. Nari shook her head.

"It doesn't matter. They'll check the out and discover there's nothing being smuggled on them," Nari said. Asuna nodded and stood slowly up.

"Right, but they have Dohdoh. And they're scanning her memory banks," Asuna said in an urgent tone. Ashivod took his hands off of his hips.

"I don't like the idea of Empire getting their hands on our droid and tearing her apart for information. If they find something the least bit suspicious who'll know what they'll do to us. Or D0," He said looking at Asuna. She didn't like the way he was talking about her droid.

"I don't like it either, but they outnumber us and they have our ship. They won't find anything suspicious on D0. Just let them waste their time inspecting the cargo. There's no reason for them to keep us here," Nari said.

"No! I'm not taking this sitting down!" Asuna said balling her hands up in fists and holding them up in front of her. She looked over at Ashivod and punched him in the chest plate. Ashivod took off his helmet and pulled off his gloves and pushed Asuna.

"Are you trying to start something?!" he provoked her. Nari backed away for the two as they staged a fight.

"You and your stupid armor! That's why they think we're suspicious!" Asuna yelled as she shoved him against the wall. Ashivod grabbed her wrists and held her away from him.

"You got a problem with my armor you have a problem with me!" he shouted back at her. The sound of boots ran down the corridor and towards their cell.

"Okay guys… you got their attention… I hope you know what you're doing…" Nari said in a quiet and cautious voice.

The door open and two troopers rushed in with their blasters up.

"Break it up you two!" one shouted as Asuna repeatedly kicked Ashivod in the shin guard. She raised her knee to give him a low blow. The two troopers flinched as Ashivod bent over in 'pain' and let go of Asuna's wrists. Nari grabbed one of the trooper's blasters and knocked him over the head with it. The other trooper looked over and aimed at her. Ashivod stood up straight, retracted his arm and let a punch fly at the other trooper's head. He fell over and dropped his gun. He picked up the gun and looked at Asuna who was taking the other trooper's utility belt off.

"Ready?" he asked her. Asuna stood up and put it around her hips.

"Ready!" she answered. Ashivod nodded and led the way out of the cell. He shut it on the two troopers after Asuna and Nari got out.

"Let's get the droid and get out of here as fast as we can," Nari said.

---

D0D0 bleeped nervously and whined as Theodore Cole knelt down to hook the droid up to the computer. He chuckled and his face broke into a small smile.

"Don't worry little guy. It won't hurt," he said as he went to plug D0 in. The droid's head swung around and to look at Thee and made an unpleasant noise. He lifted his head up and looked at the astromech.

"Girl, of course. Forgive my arrogance," he corrected himself. He hooked the droid up and stood up and went over to the computer.

He watched as files and files of data transferred from the droid over to the computer. He looked through it and breathed through his nostrils. This was a waste of their time. There wasn't anything worth the Empire's time on this droid. The same went for the crew and the ship's cargo. It was just a procedure and they had to be careful. One mistaken could cost them severely. He heard the door open and he turned around expecting to see Jim or Harroc. Instead he saw two Mandalorians in full armor and an unhappy Kiffar female. They lifted their blasters and Thee raised his hands in the air and backed away from the computer.

The two Mandalorians walked further inside pointing their weapons at him while the young woman raced over to stop the scanning process on the computer and unhooked the droid. Thee looked at their blasters and noticed they were the ones issued to the troopers. He wasn't going to fight them for a droid he knew had nothing of interest on it. Still he was a little curious as to why they seemed to be in such a hurry to get out. Thee looked at two physiques of the Mandalorians. The taller one was definitely male and the shorter one possibly looked female.

"Eyes where I can seem 'em pal," she told Thee. He lifted his head up higher and his green eyes to show her he wasn't checking her out. He heard a clank behind the two and then a spurt of angry whistles from the droid. He caught the Kiffar female regaining her balance with support from the droid. Her cheeks were pink and she briefly met his eyes and looked away. He kept on looking at her and noticed her fumbling and glancing back at him another time. Had she been staring at him before?

"How's it going back there?" the male Mando asked.

"Uh… uh… good. Real good. Just set off the det," She answered him.

"Good, we'll head out then," The female said. After she spoke the alarm went off. The two Mandalorians looked away from him and at each other. He assumed to talk to each other through their private channel. Thee grabbed his pistol and pointed it at the door controls and fired it. This would teach them a lesson not to mess with the Imperial Navy. Of course the fact that he had just trapped himself in a room with two Mandalorians was not comforting at all.

Thee felt a gloved hand from one of them hit his jaw and he fell backwards. A chair broke his fall before he slid down to the ground face first. His pistol had fallen out of his hand and he heard it being kicked away from him.

"Get D0 to open the door. Asuna!" The female ordered the Kiffar. Thee groaned and rolled over. The male in the gray armor was cracking his knuckles while the female in red armor had her blaster closely aimed between his eyes. He looked away for the end of the blaster and up at the woman.

"We were going to release you after we scanned the droid," Thee was about to add a snarky comment, but he had a blaster aimed at his head and he was sure the gray armored Mandalorian wouldn't hesitate to hit him again.

"How's the door coming?" The female asked.

"She's working on it," she responded in a worried and a tad defensive voice.

"Sunie, get his weapon," the Mandolrian female said. The man next to her bent over and grabbed Thee's shirt and yanked him up onto his feet.

"You're coming with us aruetii," he said. Thee gave him a sickening glare and looked over to see the young woman scamper over to pick up his pistol. She looked back at him with her blue eyes and then hurried back to the droid.

Instead of fearing for his life, Theodore couldn't get over how incredibly stupid this was. Was there really a reason they were acting like this? Was there something he overlooked on the scan? His gut instinct really doubted that. And of all things, why did Jim even bother taking them in? That was what really bothered him. Yes it was protocol, but the cargo of toy droids wasn't even that suspicious. It was just weird. There was no reason to take people in with _weird_ cargo.

Thee fumed over how this was ultimately all Jim's fault and he was the one getting punched and shoved around. He wasn't really paying much attention as someone slapped binders on him.

"You're gonna get us off this ship, got that?" the man told him.

"As much as it would make me happy to see you gone, I'm not doing anything for you," Thee told him. He felt something hard hit the back of his head and then he was shoved forward. Thee cringed and stumbled. He felt the barrel of the blaster against his back and straightened up and started walking. The droid spun its head around and beeped just as the door opened. Thee got jabbed in the back again and walked out first.

"Stay close behind," the female told Asuna. Thee was a little impressed, they seemed to have an idea of which way they were going. Did they have a layout of the ship? Thee gritted his teeth. They should have run into someone by now! What was taking so long?!

Thee heard someone coming down a hallway and he sighed in relief. Thee was nudged out to where the corridors intersected and the three renegades hid behind the corner. Before he could try and get away he looked over and saw a woman, Nola, coming towards him. He went rigid and wished she had never come this way.


	2. Criminal

_In the year 17 BBY...._

**Tandem:**

**It's Not Criminal, It's Strategy**

"Thee! There was an explosion on the other side of the ship! Do you think it was those smugglers that we picked up? The whole crew's down there looking for them! It's crazy!" She said hurrying over to him to talk.

"I wanted to check it out but Jim told me to go back to the infirmary," she pouted. She titled her head and looked at Thee's constipated expression. She didn't see the binders on his wrists behind his back.

"What are you doing all the way over here? Are you okay?" she asked. She moved forward to feel his forehead.

"Geez, you're sweating pretty bad, maybe you should come to the infirmary. Come on let's go," she said grabbing his arm and taking a step forward. She paused and saw the binders on him.

"Thee, why do you-" the Mandalorian in red armor jumped out and grabbed Nola. She put her hand over her mouth and the blaster to her head. Thee's heart raced and he headed towards the woman to help Nola but the other Mandalorian grabbed him and pulled him back.

"Let her go you bastard!" he growled and tried to pull away.

"Get us off this ship and we will," he said Thee gave one more attempt to yank himself free but when he couldn't break the man's grip. He clenched his teeth and went along with their conditions. They kept moving, and turned down the corridor to the hanger. There were Troopers stationed around the lightweight freighter.

"Order them to leave the ship," the male told him.

"No," Thee replied.

"You'll order them to leave or-"

"TROOPERS! OVER HERE!" Thee shouted as he shoved away the Mandalorian with his shoulder. Theodore hit the ground just before the storm troopers looked over and started firing at the three. Thee looked over to the female who put Nola in front of her. Blaster fire whizzed by Nola and Thee cringed and looked back at the troopers.

"STOP! STOP YOUR FIRE!" he ordered. Thee closed his eyes tightly and cursed. He couldn't endanger Nola like that. He'd never forgive himself if something happened to her. The Troopers stopped firing and looked a little confused. Thee saw the black blaster from the corner of his eye. He cursed and slowly lifted his head and looked at the troopers.

"Call them off," The male said in a dead serious voice.

"Leave your stations and let them on their ship," he commanded the troopers. They did as he said and for once he hated that they had. Thee was jabbed again by the blaster and stood up slowly. He proceeded to walk with them to the ship. The Kiffar female raced over to open it and the boarding platform lowered and the droid rolled up it first.

As soon as they let him go and got in their ship, he'd order the troopers to shoot them down. The Kiffar began boarding the ship but fell backwards when a blaster bolt almost took off her toes. Thee looked over and saw Jim rushing into the hanger followed by a number of troopers.

"Don't let them get away!" He ordered. Asuna crawled up the boarding platform and the male Mandalorian pulled Thee in front of him as he started walking up the platform. The woman in the red armor pulled Nola in front of her as well and started boarding the ship. When Nola got close enough to him. Thee tried to break away from the Mandalorian and shove Nola off the boarding platform with him. Nola fell off the platform and onto her side with a thud, but the male Mandalorian grabbed him and pulled him on board before he could fall off with Nola. The platform went up and the ship lifted off the ground and shot out of the cruiser.

"Well that was a complete disaster. What are we going to do with him?" The woman told her male companion.

"Hopefully they like him enough not to blow us up before we make the jump to-" before he could say light speed the hyper drive roared and the three tilted back and adjusted their stance so they didn't fall over.

"Now what? Send him home in an escape pod?" she asked him.

"Waste of an escape pod. We'll drop him off somewhere. Preferably a place where they hate the Empire," The man said. He popped off his helmet and looked over at Thee. He had dark auburn eyes and short messy dark brown hair. He looked around the same age as Thee.

"Should've just let us go di'kut," he told Thee. He narrowed his green eyes at him and then moved forward abruptly and head butted the Mandalorian's nose.

"Fierfek!" the man yelled. Thee heard something hit the back of his head and then everything went dark.

"I'm going to kick that aruetii's shebs off the ship!" Ashivod growled. Asuna glared at him as she tried to put a bandage on his nose. They were in the medbay where Ashivod was sitting on a cot impatiently while receiving medical aid from Asuna. Nari stood around and paced back and forth occasionally.

"Would you shut up and stay still dummy?!" She asked before Ashivod stayed still long enough for her to finally get it on. Nari wanted to tell them that this was their entire fault and they had made a huge mess out of nothing. She sighed and bit her cheek. That would only make the situation worse though.

"That's one idea of what to do with him," Nari said. Honestly she didn't care much about what happened to the officer and just wanted this whole thing to be over with.

"This is just a big misunderstanding… maybe we could work something out with him?" Asuna asked. Ashivod scoffed at that suggestion.

"How are we going to do that?" he asked her.

"Talk to him, bribe him, threaten him." she replied crossing her arms and narrowing her eyes at him.

"Sure, we'll do that. But before we do that, something's been bothering me. Why in the world do you have fifty toy droids on the ship that were mistaken as suspicious cargo?" he asked her. Nari slumped against the wall and sighed.

"Come on Ashivod, that's not helping anyone out…"

"Aren't you in the least bit curious too? We hardly had enough money for supplies and this whole Imperial shenanigan has us behind schedule. We'll be lucky if we get half as many credits as we thought we would!" Ashivod said.

"We're not that behind schedule or that broke. And if we're going to start pointing fingers it was your idea to take a hostage," Nari fought back.

"I was trying to get us out of there! It worked didn't it?!"

"Oh, like a charm Ashivod, like a _charm_." Nari replied sarcastically. Asuna looked back and forth as they snapped at each other. She fidgeted and tried to stay out of it.

"Look, I just wanted an answer!" Ashivod said back.

"BECAUSE THEY MAKE ME HAPPY, OKAY?!" Asuna exclaimed. Ashivod and Nari both look over at Asuna with shocked and startled expressions.

"I like lining them all up, turning them on, and watching them move around, all right?" Asuna explained. They stared at her. Neither was sure what to say.

"You needed fifty of them to do this?" Ashivod asked.

"YES," Asuna responded quickly. He lifted his hands up in the air and shrugged. He had nothing else to say to that. Asuna took in a deep breath and let it out as she sat down next to the cot.

"I'll go talk to him… I think I have a better chance of getting him to cooperate with us," Asuna told them. Ashivod made a fist and hit it against his open palm.

"If he gives you trouble let me handle him," he told her.

---

Theodore groaned and opened eyes as he lifted his head up. He saw someone bent down looking at him. He propped his leg up to push himself up but it just slid across the floor an he didn't move anywhere.

"You're tied around a pole… I've never had a prisoner on my ship… what's your name?" the person asked him. Thee tried to steady his head and focus on who was talking to him. It was a young woman with short red hair and blue eyes, the Kiffar.

"Why should I tell you anything?" he asked her.

"Because I didn't hit you?" She asked him. She waited a moment for him to say something but he didn't.

"My name's Asuna, what's yours?" Thee titled his head to the side. It was easier to keep it up that way.

"You're telling me your name? Don't you think that's a dumb idea?"

"I know a couple Mandalorians who would love to throw you off the ship and be done with you. I'm the only one on this ship that's bothering to talk to you," she let him process that for a moment,

"Are you gonna answer me?" she asked. She tilted her head the same way he was.

"Theodore…" he told her. She smiled and held her head up straight. Asuna took something out of her pocket and crept closer to him and wiped his mouth off with a handkerchief.

"Just getting some drool. You probably can't feel it because your lip's so swollen. I can get some bacta for that," she told him.

"Thank you."

"Don't mention it," She said as she took some bacta spray and put some on the handkerchief. Thee watched her closely as she applied it to his lip. She looked at him briefly and then back at his swollen lip.

"We're not bad people you know. Just a little behind schedule and tired of the Empire getting in our business all the time."

"You mean desperate?" Theodore commented.

"You're drooling again…" Asuna said trying not to take what he said too personally. Thee felt embarrassed by what he had said to her. Along with the fact that he was a mess and getting his drool wiped off by his captor.

"Sorry…" he apologized. She was trying to civil with him and he was making it difficult for her.

"It hasn't been our proudest moment. It was a dumb idea to stage a fight, beat the guards, lock them in the cell, and then take you as a hostage. Just kind of… started with one bad idea and then it rolled up into something much bigger and terrible. So… anyway we can let bygones be bygones if we send you back to your cruiser?" she asked him.

"Not very likely."

"Oh… worth a shot I guess."

"There's nothing I can do. It was your choice to break out of detention center. If you had stayed in the cell till we were done looking over your cargo and scanning your droid you wouldn't be in this situation."

"If there was no reason to take us in why did you?"

"Precaution, protocol."

"Do you always do what you're told to do?"

"Yes, they're orders."

"Even if you don't want to and you know it's wrong?" Asuna asked him. She moved away from him after she was done putting bacta on his lip. He moved his hand to touch it but she lightly slapped it away.

"Don't touch it," she told him. He put his hand down and looked up at her. He didn't want to answer her last question. Thee didn't need to. She seemed to know his answer.

"Well I don't," she told him while looking him the eye. She turned away and headed out of the cargo hold. The door opened and then shut, leaving him completely alone.


	3. Now What?

_In the year 17 BBY...._

**Tandem:**

**Now What?**

Nari leaned against the kitchen counter and stared at her com. Her finger was placed lightly on the call button. Ashivod sat at the table and quietly took the peel off a piece of muja fruit in one long strip. Nari closed her eyes and played out a conversation in her head of what she would say. She opened them again and stared back at the com. Ashivod finished peeling his fruit and set it carefully on the table.

"Do you think I should call Teroch and let him know what happened?" Nari asked Ashivod.

"You've been standing there for the last five minutes," he told her after he finished eating two slices of muja fruit. Nari put her com away and stood up straight.

"Maybe later," she said as she went over to the conservator and opened it up. Escaping from Imperial Starfleet cruisers took a lot out of her. The door to the kitchen open and Asuna dragged herself in. She announced her presence by groaning. She went over to the kitchen table, pulled out the chair across from Ashivod and sat down. She crossed her arms over each other, set them on the table, and put her head down on top.

"What are we going to doooo?" she asked them in a pathetic voice. Ashivod sat contently and ate another piece of muja.

"Drop him or his body off somewhere and get new identities," Ashivod said.

"I don't want to change my identity. I like being Asuna Ga'ni," she said.

"Did you get him to say anything?" Nari asked looking at Asuna. The Kiffar lifted her head and stretched out her arms on the table.

"His name is Theodore and he's uptight. That's all I got," she told them. She looked down a little and thought about the conversation she had with Theodore.

"He seems reasonable though. I think…" Asuna said. She looked up at Nari and Ashivod.

"Maybe we can work something out with him and the Empire to get our names cleared. The Empire has to have better things to do than chase down three idiots who broke out of the detention center. Oh and captured an officer… but he's just an Ensign," she said. Nari and Ashivod were silent for a moment.

"So… which planet do you think we should drop him off Ashivod?" Nari asked.

"Nari!" Asuna exclaimed.

"What? Do you think the _Empire_ is just going to let us off the hook?"

"I think that MURDER isn't going to make things better."

"I didn't _say _murder. And I thought you didn't like the Empire."

"I don't!"

"So then why are you so adamant about working something out with them?"

"Because it's a better idea than what you have in mind."

"Better?! How is turning ourselves in a better idea? Do you know what they're going to do when they see us again? Do you?"

"That's why we work something out with Theodore!"

"Like what?"

"SOMETHING," Asuna said as she stood up from the table and headed for the exit.

"What makes you think we can even trust him?! Asuna! Don't you walk out while-" Nari watched Asuna sneer at her just before leaving the kitchen. Nari hit her palms on the counter and looked over at Ashivod to see what he thought of all this. Her eyes searched for Ashivod, but he wasn't sitting at the table anymore. He wasn't even in the kitchen.

Theodore stared at stack of crates in the corner of the cargo hold. He swore he saw a rodent scurrying over there. It was such a clean ship that he partially thought it was his eyes playing tricks on him. He heard the door open and looked over to see who it was. It was a woman that he hadn't seen before, at least not without her helmet on. She had dark eyes and brown hair in two braids that rested over her shoulder. The most distinctive thing about her was the glare in her eyes and her furrowed brow.

"What did you say to her?" She asked him in a harsh tone.

"To Asuna?" Thee asked.

"One moment she wants nothing to do with the Empire and now she's wants to work out a deal with them," Nari repeated herself. She walked up to Theodore and bent down to look him straight in the eyes.

"What did you say to her?" she asked again. Thee narrowed his eyes and refused to be threatened by her look or tone.

"Only that it was unlikely the Empire would ever do something like that," Theodore answered her. He made it obvious in his tone that he would never try to devise a plan with renegades. Wait- why wasn't he? That was stupid, he could have tricked them into taking him back! Asuna had seemed so inclined to like him before! He should have taken advantage of that!

Nari stared at him as he had mentally hit himself in the head for not taking the chance to deceive Asuna. Her face softened a little. He wasn't the manipulative type even if he tried to be. She leaned forward a little to try and get a better look at him. What was it about him that had convinced Asuna to help him?

Theodore noticed how close Nari was to his face and blinked. His blue eyes were confused and a little terrified. Nari stood up straight in realization. Asuna thought Theodore was cute. That had to be it. Nari covered her mouth and turned away for a moment. She wasn't sure if she was grimacing or grinning. For some reason she wanted to laugh that Asuna found the uptight Imperial Officer attractive. Yet at the same time, she didn't like that Asuna was ready to throw caution to the wind because she wanted a date with him.

Theodore tried to move around so he could see what Nari was doing while her back was turned. She lowered her hand from her mouth and looked over her shoulder at Theodore.

"Get comfortable, you're going to be here for awhile," she told him before leaving him. Theodore looked down at the floor. What did that mean? Were they going to try and get a ransom from him? And how was he going to get comfortable with his hands bonded together and his back tied against a pole?

***

"Corellian Smugglers… Ubese Murders… Rogue Jedis… Hapan Pirates… I don't see Mandalorian Kidnappers at the top of the Empire's wanted list. I'm disappointed," Ashivod setting his datapad on the table next to the sofa in the lounge. He stretched and cracked his neck before lying down on the sofa. Nari sat in a chair keeping on eye on the console in front of her. She continued to look at it for a few minutes before swinging her chair around to face Ashivod.

"Asuna has a crush on our prisoner," She told him in a casual yet urgent tone. Ashivod moved his head so he was looking at Nari. He wasn't exactly sure what she was trying to say to him.

"So you guys made up?" he asked.

"No, I'm not talking to her. She's delusional, childish, and unrealistic. Not to mention fickle."

"Why fickle?"

"Never mind," Nari said looking away for him. Ashivod looked at her for a moment longer and then up at the ceiling of the room.

"Okay… Asuna doesn't have a crush on the prisoner."

"But I just said she did."

"Yeah… you also said you haven't talked to her since the scene in the kitchen. So how would you know?"

"I went down to interrogate him. He's a selfless flop that doesn't know what he's doing. And he has handsome eyes," Nari answered. Ashivod chuckled a little in disbelief.

"Oh really? Between you and Teroch I always thought Teroch would be the one to go astray," he said looking over at her. Nari looked back at him and glared.

"Shut up Ashi. It was an observation. We're talking about Asuna, not me."

"I really don't think Asuna would ever be attracted to an Imperial shabhead. But what would I know? I haven't asked her about it," Ashivod yawned and rolled over on his side and faced away from Nari. This whole process was routine. Nari and Asuna got in a fight. Asuna sulked in her room and Nari ranted about Asuna to him. Then, before he knew it, they'd be talking again as if nothing had happened between them. The sooner that happened the better. He closed his eyes. As long as they weren't on most wanted criminals list, he could rest easy for a bit. And when he'd wake up, Nari and Asuna wouldn't be nagging at each other anymore.

***

Ashivod woke up and rolled onto his back. His mouth and throat were dry. He must have slept with his mouth wide open. He rubbed the palm of his hand over his mouth to make sure he hadn't been drooling. Ashivod stood up and headed to the kitchen.

Ashivod wasn't quite sure what time it was or how long he'd been asleep. The whole ship was pretty quiet. Maybe everyone was resting. He rubbed his head and opened the door. After he got a drink of water he should probably go to sleep in his room. He went over to the sink with a glass and filled it up with water. He noticed three plates in the drying rack along with three utensils. That was odd, he hadn't been awake for dinner. He drank his glass of water when he realized the third plate was probably the prisoner's.

After setting the empty glass on the counter he left the kitchen and headed to his room. Ashivod was ready to go back to sleep. He stopped at his door and his hand hovered over the controls. Something wasn't right… why was water running in his room? Was Teroch back? No… he was still busy with a job and he and Nari shared a room and a 'fresher. And Asuna had her own room and 'fresher…

Ashivod felt his side for his blaster. He cursed under his breath when he remembered he had left it in his room. He moved to the side of the doorframe and opened the door up. He waited a moment before peaking his head in. Ashi took one step in when he didn't see anyone in his room. But, there was someone in the 'fresher…

Before Ashivod could make it over to his blaster the light from inside the 'fresher turned off and the door opened. The prisoner stepped out dabbing his face with a towel. He stopped and lifted his head up from his towel and saw Ashivod coming at him.

"Wait-" Theodore put out his hands to stop him, but the effort was too little too late. Ashivod tackled him to the ground.

Asuna rushed down the corridor to Ashivod's open room and stood in the doorframe with her hand on either side of it.

"No no no no! Ashi, stop! I told him he could use your refresher!" she cried. Ashivod was sitting on top of Theodore with his hand on his face trying to keep him on the ground.

"He couldn't use the one at the end of the corridor?!" Ashivod asked. Asuna frowned as she looked at the two on the ground.

"Well he could off… but that wouldn't have made sense."

"Why wouldn't it have?" Ashivod jaw tightened as he studied Asuna. She took in a slow deep breath and looked up as she ran her hand through her hair and gestured toward Theodore as if introducing him and started speaking softly.

"I can't hear you," Ashivod said. He wasn't sure if he was going to like what she was going to say. Asuna cleared her throat.

"Ashivod… this is Theodore… he's going to be sharing your room until he gets back to his ship," she said. It was still a soft voice but clear voice so she didn't have to repeat herself again. Ashivod's grip on Theodore's face loosened and his eyes widened.

"WHAT?!"


End file.
